Live at So You Think You Can Dance! An Injury, an Elopement and the Domination Man

The competition is heating up on So You Think You Can Dance! The top 14 shimmied, stepped and dipped their way through another week of competition on Wednesday night’s performance show, and we couldn’t get enough of the new nicknames, a surprise elopement and a closing routine that had the judges in tears.

So who brought down the house, who’s the Domination Man, and which couple ran off to say, “I do?”

There’s no denying Mitchell Kelly and Caitlynn Lawson had the best routine of the night. Breat-catching lifts, jumps and moves made with reckless abandon had judge Mary Murphy in tears! When we caught up with the pair after the show, they filled us in on all the behind-the-scenes injury drama that almost kept Mitchell out of the spotlight.

“My foot, the muscle is swollen,” Mitchell told us. “It swelled up and I was like, ‘Oh my God’ I couldn’t put my weight on it. Tonight, Robert Roldan had his outfit on [to fill in for me] and I was just sitting there looking at all the other dancers and I thought, ‘Wait, I can do this. I can do this.’ Looking at Caitlynn I wanted it so bad. In rehearsal I could feel [the injury]. Then I went to bed the night before the show and when I woke up I couldn’t even stand on my foot.”

“It was crazy,” Caitlynn added. “I’ve danced with Robert before so that was a little comforting, but Mitchell was hurt and I was so worried about him and I wanted to do [the routine] so bad. Robert stepped in and we had to have an extra rehearsal and figure out how to do it together and then five minutes before we were going on stage, Mitchell was like, ‘I’m going. I need to do it.’ I knew how bad he wanted this and how we both wanted to dance this together.”

While Mitchell and Caitlynn basked the glow of a standing ovation and judges praise, the biggest surprise of the night was news that season favorites Melanie Moore and Marko Germar were running off to the chapel to get hitched! Well…as characters in their Ray Leeper choreographed jazz routine that is. The power couple put on another show-stopping performance of spice and sass that showed off their undeniable chemistry, which Melanie (who prominently wears a promise ring) says her boyfriend is taking in stride.

“He really likes Marko. He thinks he’s a really great guy,” Melanie said. “Marko and I are really great friends after having to work together so closely. It was a little awkward when they first met. [My boyfriend] gave him a really firm handshake and Marko was just like, ‘Hi, I’m Marko!’ and then [my boyfriend] said, ‘He was a little awkward with me!'”

Speaking of Marko, he made another big impression on the judges in the opening men’s dance sequence prompting Mary to nickname him the Domination Man, which Marko finds kind of superhuman.

“I feel like I need a cape, tights and a big D on my chest,” he laughed. “It sounds like a superhero!”

While Ryan Ramirez and Ricky Jaime killed it with their jazz routine, Jess Leprotto and Clarice Ordaz proved in their contemporary routine that they’re coming up as the dark horse to give the power couples a run for a place in the spotlight.

“Your partnership has been growing all season and you’re going in the right direction,” Mary said during her critique.

The surprise disappointment of the night was Sasha Mallory and Alexander Fost‘s hip-hop routine that didn’t go over well with the judges. Sure, not everyone is going to have super natural swag, but we gotta give Alexander points for trying! Although they got a less than stellar response, Alexander and Sasha told us after the show, they aren’t letting it get to them.

“This was routine was extremely hard,” Alexander said. “We have done hip-hop before on this show and it is not the same at all. Like night and day. I think Tabitha and Napoleon are amazing with transitioning other dancers into hip-hoppers, making them look like hip-hoppers. This was 100 percent raw the real thing. My goal was to get as close to where he [Shaun Everisto] wanted it. 100 percent I am a ballet dancer. This is not my thing, but I was so happy to do it. I was pressured and I was really scared, but at the same time I was so excited. Sasha has been really supportive and she helped me out a lot. I feel like we did a really good job.”

“It was really fun to do something that wasn’t so dramatic,” Sasha said. “The last three pieces had us going into each other’s souls. It was really fun to do something that was just really fun!”

Who do you think was the show stopper of the night? Do any of the dancers would make a cute real life couple? Who do you think will be going home Thursday night? Let us know in the comments!